Recipes to spend less, but fuel more for athletes during the cost of living crisis

As we’re all too aware, as triathletes, there are many demands on our money, so anything that makes it stretch a little further must be a good thing, right? With that in mind, this month I’ve devised four recipes to really give you bang for your buck.

First up, Tagliatelle with roasted onions and tomatoes, harissa and crispy bacon. Onions cost next to nothing. Slow-roast them and they morph into caramelised delectableness. The same goes when you roast cheap, normally tasteless tomatoes. Pop them in the oven before a training ride, then once you’re back simply toss them and all their juices into your pasta, add harissa for even more depth of flavour and top with crispy bacon for a nicely balanced, highly nutritious and sustaining meal for four for around £1 a portion.

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Next, this simple and speedy Omelette with peas, potato, mushrooms and feta is a regular midweek feature in our house. Packed with great quality protein to help muscle recovery, we love it when we get home from the gym, often late evening. Keep a family pack of peas in the freezer as they’re a great source of vitamin C, fibre and minerals such as potassium, magnesium and calcium. And they’re super cheap, too!

You need to work a bit for this Sweet potato gnocchi with tomato sauce, but this is a delicious and very satisfying way to make one large sweet potato stretch to a meal for four. Toss with a flavoursome tomato sauce and fresh rosemary for an immune-boosting training supper, packed with slow-releasing carbohydrate to keep your energy levels sustained.

Lastly, I couldn’t write a piece on budget meals without mentioning lentils. Love them or hate them, they’re highly nutritious and incredibly good value. Spruced up with lots of anti-inflammatory garlic, ginger and spices in this comforting Red lentil dhal with chicken and cauliflower, they’re high fibre and low GI, keeping you fuller for longer and helping maintain stable blood glucose levels. Make this dish even better by serving with basmati rice, a chapati and a dollop of mango chutney.

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Tagliatelle with caramelised onion, tomatoes & bacon

Ingredients

• 2 onions
• 4 tomatoes
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp mixed herbs
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
• 400g whole wheat tagliatelle
• 8 slices streaky bacon
• 2 tbsps harissa
• 1 tbsp capers, rinsed
• 1 tbsp pitted black olives, chopped

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 130°C/gas mark 2. Keeping the skins on, trim the top and bottom of the onions and slice in half. Halve the tomatoes. Lay both on a roasting tray cut side up. Drizzle with oil and vinegar and top with garlic, sugar, herbs, and season. Bake for 2hrs.
2. Boil a large saucepan of salted water, cook pasta, drain. Meanwhile grill bacon until crispy. Stir in harissa, capers and olives to pasta.
3. Remove onions from skins. Add them and tomatoes, inc. all juices, to pasta and combine. Serve with the bacon.

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Omelette with pea, mushrooms & feta

Ingredients

• 1 potato, sliced
• 3 large free range eggs
• Pinch of mixed herbs
• 2 x small knob butter
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 4 mushrooms, sliced
• Handful of frozen peas, defrosted
• 20g feta, sliced

Method

1. Boil a small pan of water and cook potato until soft. Drain, set aside. Melt 1 knob of butter with ½ tbsp oil in a pan and sauté the potato and mushrooms for a few mins. Stir in the peas for 4mins. Transfer to a plate.
2. In a small bowl, beat the eggs well. Season and add herbs. Heat butter and oil in pan. Once bubbling, add eggs and cover the pan bottom.
3. Scatter potato, mushrooms, peas and feta over the eggs and, using a spatula, gently fold in half.

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Sweet potato gnocchi with rosemary

Ingredients

• 1 large sweet potato
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 egg yolk
• 100-150g spelt flour, sifted
• ¼ tsp grated nutmeg

For the tomato sauce

• 400g tin chopped tomatoes
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• Pinch of sugar
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
• 2 sprigs rosemary, chopped

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200°C/gas mark 6. Bake the sweet potato until soft, for about 45mins. Make the tomato sauce. Heat the oil in a frying pan, add the garlic and salt, gently cook for 1min. Add the rest of the ingredients and cook for 5mins. Season.
2. Once cool, peel the potato, mash with a fork and transfer to a bowl. Add seasoning, egg yolk and half the flour. Combine with a fork, adding more flour gradually until the mixture becomes a soft dough; just firm enough to handle and no longer sticky. Note: the more flour you add, the firmer the gnocchi.
3. Divide the dough into four. On a lightly floured surface, roll each section into a sausage shape. Using a sharp knife, cut into 2cm pieces. Transfer to a floured plate. Boil a large saucepan of salted water. Cook the gnocchi for 2mins or until they float to the top. Drain and serve with the tomato sauce and plenty of parmesan cheese.

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Red lentil dahl

Ingredients

• 400g red lentils, rinsed
• 1 onion, sliced
• 2 tsps turmeric
• 2cm fresh ginger
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 small cauliflower, into florets
• 4 skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cubed
• 2 tsps garam masala
• 1 dried chilli
• 200g tin chopped tomatoes
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp oil
• 2 tsps cumin seeds
• ½ tsp black mustard seeds
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 2 green chillies, finely sliced
• 25g fresh coriander

Method

1. Put lentils and cauliflower in a saucepan and cover with water by approx. 6cm. Bring to boil, remove any scum with a spoon, simmer. Add onion, 1 tsp turmeric, ginger, cinnamon, 1 tsp garam masala, dried chilli and tomatoes. Cover, simmer for 30mins then remove ginger. Meanwhile toss chicken in remaining turmeric and garam masala. Heat oil in a pan, fry for 15mins, add to the dahl, stir in salt.
2. Fry cumin, mustard seeds and bay leaves in a little oil. Once sizzling, reduce heat, add garlic, fry briefly, stir into dhal.
3. Serve with coriander and fresh chillis.

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